Update: Apple says iBooks Textbooks are available in all countries with a paid iBooks store and that a full updated list of countries with access to iTunes U Course Manager can be found on its enrollment website.
Apple just put out a press release announcing that it’s expanding availability of its educational content– iBooks Textbooks and the iTunes U Course Manager– into new international markets. Starting today, both of the services are rolling out to new countries in Asia, Latin America, and Europe, bringing the total number of countries with textbooks up to 51 and the total number with access to the iTunes U Course Manager to 70. Apple also shared some stats on the growth of iBooks Textbooks, which now cover 100 percent of the US high school core curriculum:
“The incredible content and tools available for iPad provide teachers with new ways to customize learning unlike ever before,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “We can’t wait to see how teachers in even more countries will create their new lesson plans with interactive textbooks, apps and rich digital content.”
A few of the larger markets to get iBooks Textbooks today include Brazil, Italy, and Japan, while Apple highlighted Russia, Thailand, and Malaysia among the new countries getting access to the iTunes U Course Manager.
Apple first introduced textbooks in its iBooks ebook app back in January 2012 after it teamed up with a number of publishers to release interactive textbooks using a new version of its iBooks Author tool. In its press release today, Apple said iBooks is currently home to around 25,000 educational titles and noted that the textbooks “now cover 100 percent of US high school core curriculum and the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) core curriculum in the UK.”
The iTunes U Course Manager allows teachers to create courses for students that are distributed through Apple’s free iTunes U apps.
